Upaniṣads · Bhāvanā p37
॥
Devanāgarī
तेषामेव सर्वदा स्वीकरणं धूपः
Transliteración (IAST)
teṣāmeva sarvadā svīkaraṇaṃ dhūpaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
तेषाम् एव सर्वदा स्वी-करणंteṣām eva sarvadā svī-karaṇaṃtheir very own, always, appropriation
धूपःdhūpaḥis incense
Traducción
The ever-continuing appropriation of these very [objects] is incense.
Versión
9ac602583648 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The twelfth service — dhūpa, the burning of incense before the image. It is reinterpreted as svī-karaṇa, "appropriation," literally "making one's own": the ever-continuing taking of objects into oneself. The correspondence here, apparently, is by manner of action: the smoke from incense spreads and fills the whole room, leaving nothing untouched; so, by this reading, attention embraces all objects and makes them its own.
The image is not bad, but it is worth saying a word about incense itself, for the thing occupies a definite and understandable place in the worship of an image. Fragrance is the one offering that cannot be kept: a flower can be carried off, food eaten, clothing removed; but smoke departs. Hence it is burned: an offering from which nothing remains is the purest kind of offering. It departs entirely and belongs to no one — not to the giver, not to others.
The Vaiṣṇava side does not insist on this circumstance, but makes constant use of incense for a simpler reason: in a hot land, where there are many people and little air, burning incense is a necessity. And this may be said without any shame: part of the rite was a sensible household measure before it became a sign; and the one does not exclude the other.